Circular knitting machine



Dec. 29, 1953 E. F. y I UND 2664006 CIRCULAR KNTTING MACHINE Filed July1s, 1947 2 sheets-shan 1 Dec. 29, 1953 E. F. LUND 2,654,006

CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINE Filed July 1e, 1947 a sheets-sheet 2 'NV ENTDQEr K Vrd-s Lund Patented Dec. 29, 1953 :.UNrr-ED 'f 11s-.rames PATENTVOFFICE 11i-2,664,006 dIncULAnfKNITTmGMACHINE MEikhFrits Lund, Herning,Denmark Application'iluly 16, 1947;; Serial No'. l 7.61-,174'claimspriority, applicationenmark'Julyizgi945 (c1. se-81) f- 2 Claims.

The invention'feiates'to f a. method-for 'knitting 'fabiicsandapparatuses or looms for theperformance of'themtliod.

An essential 'point of the 'invention isthat 'the threads forformingthejstit'ches are'carried .by a 'row of thread carriers finrelation to needles arranged in a rowftransversally"across'the fabricbeing manufactur'edin such a way that'each thread 'during the lcrossing*gradually forms a series offstitches. The stitches 'are at onceL formedin 'severalfonsecutive series, each se'ries 4by its individual thread.The columns of stitches may be obliquelytothe series.

It is of no importance if the carriers aremoved and the needlesiied orthe contrary is' thecase.

They may also v both be-movable in some Way -or other.

For carrying.outlthe-,process a row of thread carriers, eachcarrying itsindividual thread,- `advances hstepwise.. orf-.proceeds on ythe one sidefof" the fabric inrelation-to a -corresponding row of VVneedleson-theothensideof the fabric. f The row f ofcarriers stopsa-fter astepina-position opposite the row of-needlesreach Acarrier opposite a needle;and-stitches-areformed simultaneously between -each pair-for couple ofcarriers and needles.

-f-Afterther forming of' a Istitch theY carriers conveyingtheirvindiv-idualfthreadsadvance in some suitable irian'neroh-e' step ofdesired length from the-needles with whichthey have .formed stitches andalways-in-thesame direction in relation to the needlesand--stop-opposite other needles in the row, Where-newstitchesareformed. This method-isespecially suitable forcircularV knitting.

ln circular-knittingmachines the thread-carriers laref*assembled'in a'Vcircular-vsystemiflike the needles.v The two circular-systems areco-aXial. There are -as a-rule thesainenumber'of threadcarriersandgneedles.;The'gwhole needle system is moved up and downtogether whilethe threadcarriers" lead the threads towards and away from the needlesystem intime with the upsanddown motion of the needles as both systemsare con" i trolled by the same member. During these movements stitchesmay be formed in per se known manners. After the forming of a series ofstitches a movement is imparted to the thread-carriers system or theneedle system, for instance, to the extent of the width of a stitch at atime.

By means of the process described above an especially rapid knitting isachieved, as a long row of needles, possibly the total number of needlesin one row of needles, will knit stitches "s :ir'nultaneously.`rConsequently it is possible to attain atproduction of Afabric just asquickly as ley-the production of vsoft knitted and Raschel fabrics YInthe completed fabric each thread, or part of thread, yforms 'its rowofstitches transverse to the longitudinal or advancing direction of the[fabric "It is;v consequently, possible to producecrossestriped'fabrics. Y

The process according to the invention and lapparatuses according totheinvention will be further explained'below with reference to schematicaldrawings illustrating a form of production for a fabric according to theinvention and various embodiments of theapparatus according to theinvention.

' Fig. 1 is a AView* in elevation of, partly inV seovtion, of a circularknitting machine embodying the invention.

Figs. 2 and 3.are enlargedviews showingl details of the machineillustrated in Fig. l.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged view of a portion of Fig. 1.

Referring to Fig. 1, an embodimentof the invention `is illustrated asapplied to a lcircular knitting machine, aportion'of which is shown on alarger scale in`Fig. 4.

. Themachinept. Fig. 1 comprises a revoluble vertical needle cylinder.rIE) I having Y vertically.- extending lneedle guiding-grooves |02formedon theY periphery thereof in the-usual manner,v being arranged toreceive tongue-or-latch-needles |03 -forming a seriesr ofneedlesand ahorizontal, circular groove housing a.spring--Iil5 for keeping theneedles in-.theinplace f The Afeet IE6 of the needles enter intoa;recess IG'I in a vertically i reciprocating guidefring |68. -Aqfaee'|69 on the upper part cfg-the 4ring Abears against a corre- V`spendingface EI iig on thread-carriers I|I each needles. vThe carriersfareplaced around the 'needlecylinder. l-'By'rn'eans of a circular'spr'ing II9 the threadfcarriers? are pressed towardsv the A needle cylinder'.rThrough an .eyejI I3 on the adapted to swingfonua circula-raide H2 thenumber of @which as a rule equals the number. of

the surfaces of the path by means of roller bearings or the like and|18. The rings ||E and |08 rotate one in relation to the other.

'The machine may e. g. be mounted and driven in the following manner:

The needle cylinder |l with its accessories may be mounted in a frame|30. A motor |31 supplies the necessary force. Through a gear |32 thismotor rotates the shaft |33, on which a pinion |34 is xed. This pinionis in mesh with a gear wheel |35 fixed on the ring H5, which latter isrotated continuously during the work. The needle cylinder |0| is rotatedstepwise by means of two eccentric discs |36, |31 fastened on the shaft|3'3. One of these discs |31 moves a bar |38, Fig. 3, which is slidinglyjournalled in a bearing |39 fixed on the frame |30 in some suitablemanner. The bar has at its one end a wheel |40 which by means of aspiral spring |4| is pressed against the disc |31. At its other end thebar has a pawl |42 which is pressed against a toothed ring |43 on theneedle-cylinder by means of a spiral spring |44. This pawl serves formoving the needle cylinder in anti-clockwise direction.

The other disc |36 serves to stop this movement of the needle-cylinderintermittently by means of a bar |45 having pivots |46 journalled inbearings (not shown). Bar |45 is journalled to revolve in a clockwiseand anti-clockwise direction, and is not permitted to slidelongitudinally.

At one end the bar has a wheel |41, which by means of a spiral spring|48 is pressed against the said disc |36. At the other end the bar |45has a pawl |49 which can engage the teeth of a toothed ring |50 on theneedle cylinder.

When the two eccentric discs |35` and |31 are adjusted in a suitablemanner in relation to each other it is obvious that the disc |31 willpush the needle cylinder a step forwards and that the disc |36afterwards will suddeniy stop this movement.

The circular axle ||2 is stationarily mounted on some part of the frame|30.

The fabric passes from the needle row down through the center of thehollow needle cylinder and is rolled up on a drum 15| journalled inbearings |52 slideably fixed to the needle cylinder |0|. The drumcarries two wheels |53 running on a circular rail |54. .Adjustablespiral springs |55 press the wheels against the rail. Ac-

cording to the strain in the fabric and the springs the wheels arepressed more or less against the rail and the drum will rotate more orless rapidly. In this way the rolling up of the fabric can til theyreach a height where the catches of the needles are clear of the newlyformed stitches. During this movement the thread-carriers recede and asthe needle thereafter is moved downwards the pawl |42 drives the needlecylinder system forwardly to the extent of the width of one stitch.Thereafter the thread-carriers are moved towards the needles whereby athread from one needle in the row is laid into the next succeedingneedle, and so on the whole way round. The insertion of the thread mustoccur before the catch of the needle is closed after the stitch justperformed, so as to place the thread in the eye of the needle, and bythe casting-off a new stitch is completed.

I claim:

1. A circular knitting machine having a needle cylinder, a circularseries of needles carried by said needle cylinder, said needles havingfoot portions, pivotally mounted thread carriers arranged in a circularseries concentric with said needle cylinder and surrounding said seriesof needles, one carrier for each needle, a travelling guide ring whichreciprocates in a direction parallel to the axis of said cylinder, saidguide ring being provided with a recess in which said foot portions ofsaid needles are adapted to enter in order that they may besimultaneously actuated for reciprocation therewith and comprising aface which bears against corresponding faces on said thread carriers,the thread carrying parts of said carriers being actuated to move awayfrom said needles by the movement of said guide ring in one direction,and means for pressing said thread carrying parts of said carrierstoward said needles during movement of said guide ring in the oppositedirection to form stitches, said series of needles and carriers rotatingstepwise always in the same direction in relation to each other.

2. A circular knitting machine as dened in claim 1, wherein said machineincludes a further ring provided with a corrugated groove therein, andin which said guide ring is provided with members which project intosaid corrugated groove, said further ring and said guide ring beingadapted to rotate one in relation to the other.

ERIK FRITS LUND.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 397,142 Payne et al Feb. 5, 1889 582,589 Maxfield May 11, 1897606,352 Lindner June 28, 1898 720,405 Clarke Feb. l0, 1903 1,458,156Smith June 12, 1923 1,485,056 Speese Feb. 26, 1924 1,649,126 RatignierNov. 15, 1927 2,014,356 Johnston Sept. l0, 1935 2,040,560 Meinig May 12,1936 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 3,483 Great Britain of 1913

